11 11. Fortifying agents:• Fortifying agents are used to increase the nutritional value.• Examples: vitamins, lipids, carbohydrates, minerals, and dietary supplements.
12 12. Flavor enhancers:• These substances are used to enhance the existing flavor of food.• Types of flavor enhancer includes natural and artificial enhancers.• Examples: monosodium glutamate and salt.
13 13. Humectants:• These prevent food from drying.• Examples: aloe vera gel, honey, egg yolk, and lithium chloride.
1.5.1 Why Food Colors Are Preferred
Food supplements are quantized to modify the natural or original color of foods. For example, manufacturing of the strawberry jam that looks much brighter adds certain value to the foods. Sunlight can effectively affect the flavors in the foods [55–57]. Hence, dyes, pigments, or colors are added to the foods as they help to conserve the foods from detaching such nutrients. Food colors are also added to foods so they look attractive like in cakes. Foods that seems to look more appealing seem more appetizing and tend to be sold more faster.
Nowadays, food additives are more firmly studied, managed, and supervised than in past due to increasing use and demands. This responsibility of studying and determining the safe use of food additives is done by FDA (Food and Drug Administration). A manufacturer, producer, or sponsor should petition FDA for approval of food additives. After approval, they should be in agreement with specific food additive regulations [52].
FDA considers the following factors for studying the safety of a substance for its approval:
(i) Consumable amount
(ii) Properties and constitution of the substance
(iii) Long-term and instant effects of health
(iv) Evaluation of safety
(v) Environment assessment
After the approval, FDA issues regulations which includes the following: in which type of food, it must be used, highest amount to be consumed, and how it must be recognized on product labels. Since 1999, approval process is modified. Now, FDA may consult USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) during the review process of substances to be used in meats and poultry products. Regulations known as Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) limit the quantity of food substances used in foods to the quantity necessary to attain the desired effect [53–55].
1.5.2 E-Numbering
• Additives are allotted a special number which is known as E-NUMBER. It is used in Europe for all the approved food additives. This process of giving characteristic number to food additives for easy identification is known as E-numbering [59].
• E-numbering is done to modulate these additives and to notify the consumers.
• The naming of all approved additives starts with the prefix “E” and followed by the number assigned for the approved additive [57].
• All countries other than Europe do not use the prefix “E”. For example, in Europe, acetic acid is written as E260, whereas in other countries, it is simply written as additive 260.
• Some examples of E-numbers of food additive are as follows:- Tartrazine (E102)- Quinoline yellow (E104)- Amaranth (E123)- Saffron (E164)- Sorbic acid (E200)- Benzoic acid (E210)- Malic acid (E296)- Sodium alignate (E400)- Agar (E406)- Shellac (E904)
Food is defined as the complex mixture of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, minerals, and the vitamins. Because of these ingredients, the food undergoes spoilage mechanisms. Different microorganisms utilize these ingredients and grow and degradation of the product or any component causes spoilage of food. That is why we implement the food preservation technique.
There are two types of food preservation techniques: physical method and chemical method. Physical method includes manipulation of storage temperature, pasteurization, and sterilization to arrest the growth of microorganisms [56, 58, 60]. This type of method is although good in arresting the growth of microbes, they employ the economic investment as it requires a continuous supply of electricity which is not possible in developing countries like India. That is why we need to use chemical preservatives. Chemical preservatives are added in a very small quantity that they do not affect the organoleptic and physical properties of food.
Food preservatives contains a complex of substances having unsimilar molecular structures (organic and inorganic substances having different functional group and capacity to form ions). No methods are generally applied in the analysis of preservatives as a subgroup of food additive, the methods are specified to the preservative being examined.
1.6 Food Spoilage and Preservation
It is defined as an undesirable changes that occur in food due to the influence of factors like heat, light, air and moisture which favors the growth of various micro-organisms. Foods take different period of time to lose their natural form their spoilage [61–63]. The time for which a food can be kept fresh is called shelf life.
Food preservation is defined as a science which deals with the process of preservation of decay or spoilage of food to be stored in a fit condition for future use. It has been described as a state in which any food may be retained over a long period of time without being contaminated by pathogenic organisms or chemicals and losing optimum qualities of color, texture, flavor, and nutritive value. Preservation is important as it destroys pathogens and reduces the microbial, takes care of the excess produce, adds variety to our meals, and allows food items to be sent to places where they are not grown.
1.6.1 Causes of Spoilage
Germs are the major sources which infects food and water. The flies carry germs, they pass on these germs when they sit on our food and spoil it and that is when the food becomes infected. There are different factors that are responsible for food spoilage that are as follows:
Bacteria: There are variety of microorganisms present on the earth. They are small in size and has various shapes. Some bacteria are found to be useful like lactobacillus which converts milk to curd.
Protozoa: The single-celled microorganisms that are responsible for food poisoning, etc.
Fungi: They are the organisms that grows on the dead matter and found in the warm places.
Temperature: Too high temperature or too low temperature affects the food and becomes responsible for spoilage of food.
1.6.2 Principle of Food Preservation
Principle of food preservation includes killing the microorganisms or delaying the action of microorganisms and stopping the action of enzymes [64–67].
➢ Inhibit microbial growth is called as “microbistatic”.
➢ Irreversibly inactive microorganisms (microbicidal).
➢ Mechanically remove microorganisms.
➢ Maintain asepsis.
➢ Prevent self-decomposition of food.
➢ Inactivate food enzymes.